Brick by Brick

Italy isn’t really all that big. At 116,304 square miles it is slightly larger than Arizona, the 6^th largest state in the US. However, it has been unified as a single country only since 1861, and less time than that if you consider that a fair number of the different regions currently part of Italy weren’t added until the 1900’s. Before that, Italy was fractured into many smaller autonomous regions and even city-states. Individual regions had distinct characteristics and identities. Even today, neighboring cities, separated by just a few miles, often have their own dialect or even their own distinct language. This regional identity is as, if not more, deeply rooted than the differences between states in the US.

Our most recent school trip took us to Le Marche, one of the 20 regions of Italy, located on the eastern coast bordering the Adriatic. Size-wise, this region is significantly smaller than Connecticut and only slightly larger than Delaware, the 48^th and 49^th largest states in the US. The terrain is characterized by green rolling hills capped by the occasional small, fortified city/town. Many here in Italy feel it is the next Tuscany, waiting to be discovered.

The look and feel of each region is shaped by the building materials which naturally occur. In that way, Viterbo and our part of the country are characterized by the gray, dark, volcanic stone found easily nearby. In the south you find lighter colored marbles and limestone while Assisi was all done up in the distinctive pink and white marble found nearby. The architecture of Le Marches is created in yellow-brown brick. From a 13^th century church

and the house of Giacomo Leopardi in Recanati,

to the city walls of Urbino lit up at night,

to the medieval castle at Gradara.

The brick was actually a welcome difference from what we are accustomed to and helped to soften the impact of the brisk air cluttered by the occasional snowflake.